The hall on the first floor of the mercenary headquarters was bustling as always.
Mercenaries who had gathered to take a break after completing their mission were chatting away aimlessly all over the hall.
He mainly talks about how difficult and dangerous his last mission was.
But their conversation topics weren't always limited to missions.
"That girl, she was walking around with Bram yesterday?"
Rick, who had been secretly watching from a corner of the hall, gave a longing look to his colleagues.
He looked around with narrow, vulgar-looking eyes, checking to see if anyone was eavesdropping on his conversation.
Tilda, who had been chatting with Rick, asked in surprise.
"Are you talking about Hilda?"
"Shh! Don't say her name. What if someone hears? Have you forgotten that those guys who got caught badmouthing that woman before were punished?"
Tilda lowered her voice and responded to Rick's provocation.
"It wasn't a big deal before. I don't know who she is that the captain cares so much about. Are the two of them really dating?"
Belle, who had been quietly listening to Rick and Tilda, burst into laughter.
"It's suspicious. But she was hanging out with Bram? Do you think all men are going to date each other? It's really annoying that she sticks to the captain and gets special treatment."
Rick nodded in agreement.
"Her face is half and half. It's the price of her face."
"She doesn't even have anything to do properly, so she just sticks to the mercenary group and takes their food money."
As the bell rang, Rick became more and more proud and opened his mouth.
"It's really pathetic. Are you kidding me, being a mercenary? I went on a mission yesterday and ran into a bunch of robbers and almost died, but who is this guy who's got a half-assed face and body and is just collecting money..."
"Um, wait a minute, but let's not be too harsh."
When Rick became overly blatant in his complaints, Tilda gently put on the brakes.
"It didn't seem like there was anything to do at all."
Belle laughed in vain after hearing Tilda's words and asked.
"What does that woman do?"
"I told you to keep this to yourself... but Wolf said yesterday that she has special powers."
"Special powers?"
At Belle's question, Tilda lowered her voice even further and whispered.
"Did you know that Wolf went on a mission to subdue monsters before? I think he got mentally contaminated there. So he was about to retire, but the leader quietly called Wolf to the treatment room. While he was waiting in the treatment room, that woman showed up and cured him of the contaminated body. She didn't even use any medicine, she just laid her hand on him and he was cured right away."
Rick, who had been silently listening to Tilda's story, burst into laughter.
"Does that make sense? I've never heard of the contamination being cured."
Belle also nodded in agreement with what Rick said.
"Isn't this a show that the captain staged? There's been a lot of talk about that woman these days. If you show that she has that kind of power, the complaints will subside a bit."
"If that was the case, she wouldn't have treated him so secretly. She wouldn't have done it in front of everyone. He told Wolf to never tell anyone."
"Tilda, why are you so naive? If you did it in front of people, it would be discovered as a scam, so she did it secretly. They told them not to tell anyone, but they actually wanted rumors to spread. Then, you wouldn't get criticized as much if you openly attacked that woman."
Tilda let out an awkward laugh when her words didn't work.
Leaving Tilda alone, Rick muttered.
"The captain is really acting strangely. Is the woman really that good? I was curious, so I tried to talk to her, but she didn't even give me a glance. If someone saw her, they would think she was a young lady from a noble family. She doesn't know how to do anything, but she's acting expensive..."
"Leave her alone. You said she only deals with rich men. Not to mention the captain, Bram must have earned a lot of money because he's skilled, so he must have been put under the care of that woman."
As Belle snickered while saying that, Rick also responded with a mean face.
Their favorite pastime was to sla h at anything that was an eyesore with their tongue.
Especially that woman. Hilda was not sent on missions that required combat like them, so they rarely encountered her, making her even more deserving of insults.
So they indulged in their own entertainment without any hesitation and laughed for a long time.
That must have been their fault.
They didn't notice Hertha's shadow stealthily approaching them from behind.
"I was going to let it go if you kept muttering a little, but these words are too harsh."
When Herta, who had appeared without knowing when, suddenly showed her face, Rick and Belle's laughter immediately stopped.
They tried to talk quietly, but as they started talking, they got excited and ended up raising their voice too loudly.
Unfortunately for them, Hertha seemed to have heard all their careless ramblings.
A clear anger flashed in the crimson eyes that glared at Rick and Belle.
"There is a reason why the captain treats Hilda specially. It's a reason that doesn't need to be explained to low-level people like you."
"..."
"The reason she was with Bram yesterday was that Hilda was tutoring Bram's younger sister. It's dangerous for a woman to walk alone at night, so Bram dropped her off after tutoring. Aren't your fantasies too severe?"
Rick and Belle's faces instantly turned red.
Tilda nodded desperately, trying to show that she wasn't joining in on the dirty gossip.
Hertha, who had been glaring at them one by one, clicked her tongue.
"If you keep such thoughts in your head, your mission success rate will be so low. Think about it, who is it that sticks to the mercenary group and just pays for their food?"
Rick and Belle kept nodding their heads at Hertha's sharp blows.
Hertha was close to the captain, so if they didn't apologize properly, their conversation would reach the captain's ears.
He apologized so earnestly that his head almost touched the ground, but Hertha ignored him and left.
"Herta has disappeared," muttered Rick, glancing sideways.
"Oh. She shouldn't have told the captain, but this is fucked up."
"Is that girl flirting with other girls now? I think Hertha has fallen for her, too."
"Belle, stop it. If you get caught again, it's really over."
Belle also kept her mouth shut as the frightened Rick continued to swear quietly.
But even though she kept her mouth shut, the dissatisfaction inside did not stop.
'I want to see that bastard get dumped by the captain and get whined over. Along with that unlucky Hertha.'
Belle muttered to herself as she stared in the direction where Herta had disappeared.
***
From the time the sun set, Rodrick was busy preparing.
It was to go to the promised restaurant with Elona.
Although he was in a hurry, he was somewhat pressed for time.
After hearing the story Hertha told him, he was so busy thinking about what to do with Rick and Belle that he ended up getting off work a little late.
He couldn't just let it go since they said such dirty things to Elona.
'How did I bring you here?'
From the day he decided to have Elona, he endured a time of hardship.
Just waiting for the moment when he is given the chance.
Fortunately, the wait did not betray him.
A rift developed between Elona and Kishian, and Rodrick seized the moment to take advantage and get his hands on Elona.
This is the person he worked so hard to bring in.
The mission success rate was low, and of course, he had no intention of letting those who would gossip about others and ruin the mercenary group atmosphere get hurt.
Since they were the ones who were supposed to be kicked out in the first place, there was no need to waste time.
It just so happened that a perfect request had come in to deal with them.
It is said that a monster causing powerful mental pollution has appeared in a port city located in the southwestern part of the empire.
If they were sent on that subjugation mission, they probably wouldn't return in good shape.
As Rodrick was making plans in his head, the promised time arrived.
Elona was waiting, wearing a blue dress that gave off a sophisticated vibe rather than her usual plain clothes.
Of course, the face had been changed into a magic tool.
It wasn't her real face, but even so, Rodrick could feel his heart not beating as leisurely as usual.
As he led Elona to the carriage, he racked his brain to come up with some compliments that would sound nice without being too over the top.
"You look like a Princess when you wear that?"
Even though he had racked his brain hard to come up with the answer, the compliment that came out was really poor.
He couldn't understand why his tongue, which usually rolls smoothly, was so stiff today.
Fortunately, Elona didn't laugh.
"I really was a Princess, so I guess you were not completely wrong. You have a keen eye, huh?"
Elona got on the carriage first, throwing in some humor of her own.
Rodrick followed, got into the carriage, and closed the door.
A worried question came from Elona, who was staring out the window.
"By the way, are you okay? You seem busy today, but you still take the time for me."
"I was the one who suggested it first, so of course it's okay. I'm so happy I could die."
"Huh?"
"It felt like all the hard work I've done up until now was for this moment."
Elona, who had been staring at Rodrick blankly as if she were surprised, burst into laughter.
"Is that really it... I always say you exaggerate."
"That's not an exaggeration."
The carriage carrying the two people began to move slowly, Elona's small laughter scattering along the road.
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